Free-arm canopy, particularly for sun and rain protection

ABSTRACT

A free arm standing parasol comprises a mast, on which an arm with its end of the arm facing towards mast is guided extendably and retractably via a mast slide and is thereby held by a supporting element between the arm and mast while the end of the arm facing away from the mast carries a parasol part with a crown, the parasol part comprising main struts which are radially hinged to the crown and associated supporting struts which are hinged to a corresponding main strut and a parasol slider. The parasol part is connected, via actuating organs, to a drive unit at the mast, a first actuating organ being connected to the mast slide via first deflection rollers for moving the mast slide up and down across a first functional distance, and a second actuating organ being coupled to the actuating organ via an action coupling and being connected to the parasol slider via second deflection rollers for moving the parasol slider across a second functional distance. To improve operability and stability, it is proposed that the second actuating organ be provided with a transmission unit configured in such manner that the first functional distance and the second functional distance have different lengths.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a free arm standing parasol, particularly forsun and rain protection.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A free arm standing parasol of this type is known from EP 0 741 531 B1.This parasol comprises a functionality for the simultaneous extensionand retraction of the arm while simultaneously opening or closing theumbrella part. As shown in FIG. 3, a first actuating organ 84 leads tothe guiding slide 72 to which the arm 10 is pivotally connected, whilethe second actuating organ 26 is coupled to organ 84 and is guided alongthe mast 6 via the connecting strut 18 and the arm 10 to the slider(rosette) 42, which opens and closes the parasol part by lifting orlowering via the actuating organ 26. The guiding slide 72 and the slider42 travel identical distances. A further disclosure is shown in EP 1 250065: A parasol according to FIGS. 2 and 3 has an actuating organ 20 forextending and retracting of the arm 6 which extends along the mast tothe mast slide 8, with a rope pull 30 being attached to the mast footand coupled via a deflection roller in the mast slide with actuatingorgan 20 and extending through the arm to the slider. Also in this casethe result is an identical distance of the functional path. Extensionand retraction of the arm and opening or closing of the parasol partoccur in a simultaneous manner. U.S. Pat. No. 6,321,763 Ma Joen Shendiscloses in FIG. 8 a free arm standing parasol with simultaneousextension of the arm via a first actuating organ 25 coupled to the mastslide 14 and simultaneous opening of the parasol by a second actuatingorgan 26 having a fix point 29 at the mast and coupled via roller 30 andfurther guide to the parasol slider 21. The drive 16 consists of aprimary drive wheel 44 which drives on the one hand the rope spool 45for lifting the mast slide 14 and on the other hand the rope spool 46for lowering the mast slide 14. Nothing is disclosed regarding acompensation of the rope turns in the case of countercurrent winding andunwinding. The travel lengths of the two actuating organs 25 and 26 areidentical.

Disadvantages of the prior art are, in particular: a risk of collisionbetween the canopy struts and the table surfaces during the opening andclosing process of large parasols as a result of the closed height beingtoo low, particularly in the case of canopies with non circular shapes,a large power requirement for the actuation and an insufficient windstability caused by too short supports of the canopy struts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is thus to propose a free arm standingparasol of the above-mentioned type, which is able to overcome the aboveidentified weaknesses of the prior art.

The object of the invention is achieved by a free arm standing parasol.

In the free arm standing parasol according to the present invention, theparasol part is connected, via actuating organs, to a drive unit at themast, a first actuating organ being connected to the mast slide viafirst deflection rollers for moving the mast slide across a firstfunctional distance. A second actuating organ is coupled to the firstactuating organ via an action coupling and is connected to the parasolslider via second deflection rollers for moving the parasol slideracross a second functional distance. The fact that the second actuatingorgan is provided with a transmission unit configured in such mannerthat the first functional distance and the second functional distanceare different, leads in particular to the following advantages.

By raising the starting position of the closed parasol part includingthe arm and the canopy cover, the difference in height of the positionsof the center of gravity in the closed and in the open parasol isreduced. This results in an energy saving effect for actuating theparasol and prevents the risk of collision between the ends of thecanopy struts and any tables located below. In order to allow for thenecessary travel distance of the slider for a broad support of thecanopy struts, the parasol according to the present invention comprisesa transmission unit for extending the functional path of the parasolslide.

In principle, there are different forms of implementation for thetranslation unit. In one embodiment, the transmission unit is configuredas a pulley. In this manner, a transmission ratio which is determined bythe number of roller pairs acting in the pulley and, accordingly, aratio between the first and second functional distance can be set up. Infurther embodiments the transmission unit is configured as a mechanicalgear. In particular, it can be designed as a toothed gear or as atwo-stage cable spool. In principle, the transmission unit can beintegrated into the second actuating organ at any advantageous position.

Similarly, there are various embodiments for the guiding path of thesecond actuating organ. According to one embodiment the second actuatingorgan is guided from the action coupling along the mast, supportingelement and arm to the slider. In a further embodiment the secondactuating organ is guided from a fixing point at the mast via adeflection roller at the mast slide along the arm to the parasol slider.

According to one embodiment of the drive unit the latter is configuredas a gear with two rope spools, with a first rope spool being providedfor lifting the mast slide and a second rope spool being provided forlowering the mast slide.

In a further embodiment the first actuating organ comprises acounterpull rope for lowering the mast slide. Advantageously a tensionspring is provided for stretching the counterpull rope.

The aforementioned elements as well as those claimed and described inthe following exemplary embodiments, to be used according to theinvention, are not subject to any particular conditions by way ofexclusion in terms of their size, shape, use of material and technicaldesign, with the result that the selection criteria known in therespective field of application can be used without restrictions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further details, advantages and features of the object of the presentinvention will become apparent from the following description and thecorresponding drawings, in which the free arm standing parasol accordingto the present invention is illustrated by way of example. In thedrawings, there is shown, in:

FIG. 1 a first embodiment of a free arm standing parasol in the openstate and extended arm, as an overall view, in a sectional view;

FIG. 2 a detail view of the mast of FIG. 1 with a drive unit, in asectional view;

FIG. 3 a detail view of the mast slide of FIG. 1, in a sectional view;

FIG. 4 a detail view of the arm with a parasol part of FIG. 1, in asectional view;

FIG. 5 an overall view of the free arm standing parasol of FIG. 1, inthe closed state and with retracted arm, in a sectional view, includinga view of the first and second functional distances;

FIG. 6 a detail view of the mast slide of FIG. 5, in a sectional view;

FIG. 7 a second embodiment of a free arm standing parasol in the openstate and extended arm, as an overall view, in a sectional view;

FIG. 8a a detail view of a mechanical transmission unit of the free armstanding parasol of FIG. 7, in a vertical sectional view; and,

FIG. 8b a detail view of a mechanical transmission unit of the free armstanding parasol of FIG. 7, in a horizontal sectional view.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As can be seen from the figures, the free arm standing parasol comprisesa standing mast 1 with an arm 2, which is guided with its end of the armfacing towards the mast 2.1 via a height-adjustable mast slide 4 andwhich is held in position by a pivotable supporting element 3 disposedbetween the mast 1 and the arm 2. The mast slide 4 can be extended andretracted across a first functional distance 4.1. The arm 2 carries atits end 2.3 facing away from the mast 1 a parasol part 5 having canopy5.8 made of a flexible flat material, which canopy is carried by mainstruts 5.2 radially attached to crown 5.1 and by supporting struts 5.3attached to height-adjustable parasol slider 5.5.

For extending or retracting of the arm 2 and for opening or closing ofthe umbrella part 5 an advantageously self-locking drive unit 6 with ahand crank 6.1 and/or motor drive is installed into the mast 1.Depending on the requirements, the drive unit 6 is provided with a gear6.3 stepping-up or stepping-down the driving speed. A closed circulatingtoothed pulley 6.6 or a pull rope 6.7 serves as the first actuatingorgan 6.5 for the mast slide 4. If the circulating member is not closed,a counterpull rope 6.9 can be inserted for the mast slide 4.

In order to simultaneously actuate the parasol slider 5.5 for openingand closing the parasol part 5, a second actuating organ 7, for examplea rope pull, is directly or indirectly coupled with the first actuatingorgan 6.5 by way of an action coupling 6.8. As a result, the parasolslider can be moved across a second second functional distance 5.7.

In a first embodiment according to FIGS. 1 to 6, the second actuatingorgan 7 is fixed with its one end 7.1 below the slide 4 at the mast 1and it is guided into the arm 2 via a deflection roller 7.2 at the mastslide 4. In order to achieve the necessary travel height of the slider5.5 for a broad support of the canopy struts 5.2 of the parasol part 5,the second actuating organ 7 is provided with a transmission unit 8,e.g. with a pulley 8.1. For this purpose, attached to the rope pull 7there is a pulley roll 8.2 over which pulley rope 8.3 is guided, whichpulley rope is attached, at one end thereof, to a fixing point 8.4 atthe end of arm 2.3 and which carries, at the other end thereof, theparasol slider 5.5 over the deflection roller 5.6.

The transmission unit 8 is configured in such manner that the firstfunctional distance 4.1 and the second functional distance 5.7 havedifferent lengths.

In a second embodiment according to FIGS. 7 and 8, the second actuatingorgan 7 coupled to the transmission unit 8 is connected to the firstactuating organ 6.5 at the action coupling 6.8 in the interior of themast and is connected via deflection rollers from the mast 1 via thesupporting element of the arm 3 and, within arm 2, with the pulley roll8.2 of the transmission unit 8, which establishes a larger travel forthe parasol slider 5.5 than for the mast slide 4.

FIG. 8 shows a variant in which the transmission unit 8 is configured asa mechanical gear with a double rope spool with different diameters. Thedrive rope spool 8.6 is anchored with its axis 8.5 to the arm 2 and istightly connected to the end of rope pull 7 facing away from the mast7.3. The drive rope spool 8.7 has a larger diameter and is fixedlyconnected to the parasol slider rope 8.8. This results in a differenttravel distance for the parasol slider than that of the mast slide 4.Alternatively, according to a non-depicted embodiment, the transmissionunit can be configured as a gear with teeth, which allows more precisegraduations of the differing travel distances.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   1 Mast-   2 Arm-   2.1 end of the arm facing towards the mast-   2.3 end of the arm facing away from the mast-   3 supporting element between arm and mast-   4 mast slide-   4.1 first functional distance for the mast slide-   5 parasol part-   5.1 crown-   5.2 main struts-   5.3 supporting struts-   5.5 parasol slider-   5.6 deflection roller at crown 5.1-   5.7 second functional distance for parasol slider-   5.8 canopy surface-   6 drive unit-   6.1 hand crank-   6.3 reducer gear-   6.5 first actuating organ-   6.6 circulating toothed pulley-   6.7 pull rope to the mast slide-   6.8 coupling position of the actuating organs (action coupling)-   6.9 counterpull rope-   6.10 tension spring to the counterpull rope-   7 second actuating organ, rope pull-   7.1 end of the rope pull at the mast side-   7.2 deflection roller at the mast slide 4-   7.3 end of the rope pull 7 facing away from the mast-   8 transmission unit-   8.1 pulley-   8.2 pulley roll-   8.3 pulley rope-   8.4 fixing point of the pulley rope end-   8.5 axis of drive rope spool-   8.6 drive rope spool-   8.7 drive rope spool-   8.8 parasol slider rope

1. A free arm standing parasol having a mast on which an arm with itsend of the arm facing towards the mast is guided extendably andretractably via a mast slide and is thereby held by a supporting elementbetween the arm and the mast while the end of the arm facing away fromthe mast carries a parasol part with a crown, the parasol part which areradially hinged to the crown and associated supporting struts which arehinged to a corresponding main strut and a parasol slider the parasolpart being connected, via actuating organs, to a drive unit the mast, afirst actuating organ being connected to the mast slide via firstdeflection rollers for moving the mast slide up and down across a firstfunctional distance, and a second actuating organ being coupled to thefirst actuating organ via an action coupling and being connected to theparasol slider via second deflection rollers for moving the parasolslider across a second functional distance characterized in that thesecond actuating organ is provided with a transmission unit configuredin such manner that the first functional distance and the secondfunctional distance have different lengths.
 2. The free arm standingparasol according to claim 1, characterized in that the transmissionunit is configured as a pulley.
 3. The free arm standing parasolaccording to claim 1, characterized in that the transmission unit isconfigured as a toothed gear.
 4. The free arm standing parasol accordingto claim 1, characterized in that the transmission unit is designed as atwo-stage cable spool.
 5. The free arm standing parasol according toclaim 1, characterized in that the second actuating organ is guided fromthe action coupling along the mast, supporting element and arm to theslider.
 6. The free arm standing parasol according to claim 1,characterized in that the second actuating organ is guided from a fixingpoint at the mast via a deflection roller at the mast slide along thearm to the parasol slider.
 7. The free arm standing parasol according toclaim 1, characterized in that the drive unit is configured as a gearwith two rope spools, with a first rope spool being provided for liftingthe mast slide and a second rope spool being provided for lowering themast slide.
 8. The free arm standing parasol according to claim 1,characterized in that the first actuating organ comprises a counterpullrope for lowering the mast slide.
 9. The free arm standing parasolaccording to claim 8, characterized in that a tension spring is providedfor stretching the counterpull rope.
 10. The free arm standing parasolaccording to claim 2, characterized in that the second actuating organis guided from the action coupling along the mast, supporting elementand arm to the slider.
 11. The free arm standing parasol according toclaim 3, characterized in that the second actuating organ is guided fromthe action coupling along the mast, supporting element and arm to theslider.
 12. The free arm standing parasol according to claim 4,characterized in that the second actuating organ is guided from theaction coupling along the mast, supporting element and arm to theslider.
 13. The free arm standing parasol according to claim 2,characterized in that the second actuating organ is guided from a fixingpoint at the mast via a deflection roller at the mast slide along thearm to the parasol slider.
 14. The free arm standing parasol accordingto claim 3, characterized in that the second actuating organ is guidedfrom a fixing point at the mast via a deflection roller at the mastslide along the arm to the parasol slider.
 15. The free arm standingparasol according to claim 4, characterized in that the second actuatingorgan is guided from a fixing point at the mast via a deflection rollerat the mast slide along the arm to the parasol slider.
 16. The free armstanding parasol according to claim 2, characterized in that the driveunit is configured as a gear with two rope spools, with a first ropespool being provided for lifting the mast slide and a second rope spoolbeing provided for lowering the mast slide.
 17. The free arm standingparasol according to claim 3, characterized in that the drive unit isconfigured as a gear with two rope spools, with a first rope spool beingprovided for lifting the mast slide and a second rope spool beingprovided for lowering the mast slide.
 18. The free arm standing parasolaccording to claim 4, characterized in that the drive unit is configuredas a gear with two rope spools, with a first rope spool being providedfor lifting the mast slide and a second rope spool being provided forlowering the mast slide.
 19. The free arm standing parasol according toclaim 5, characterized in that the drive unit is configured as a gearwith two rope spools, with a first rope spool being provided for liftingthe mast slide and a second rope spool being provided for lowering themast slide.
 20. The free arm standing parasol according to claim 6,characterized in that the drive unit is configured as a gear with tworope spools, with a first rope spool being provided for lifting the mastslide and a second rope spool being provided for lowering the mastslide.